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Anyone on FB who is linked with the EIB should have received this. It is another new way of bringing together conservatives, another think tank (no such thing as too many). I have shared it on my FB, now I would like to share it with my fellow FReepers. I looked at every bit and cranny before signing up. "And Now A Word From Our Readers… (RightMessage Mailbag)"....you sign up and email them your thoughts (if I remember correctly it's 150 words max). They will choose emails, post them and respond, as well as others who are members. This is...

BUCHANAN: THE GOP’S AMNESTY CAUCUS RAISES WHITE FLAG By: Patrick J. Buchanan 2/1/2013 On Monday, Sens. John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Jeff Flake and Marco Rubio emerged with an offer of a Republican surrender to Barack Obama. We will accept amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens, said the four, but you must get serious about securing the border against yet another invasion. Only after an independent commission agrees the border has been secured will the 11 million be given green cards and put on a path to citizenship. The next day in Las Vegas, Obama, reveling in victory, instructed the four...

Republicans jumped on the news that the Obama administration is delaying judgment on the Keystone XL pipeline by another six months. “Americans have already waited >4yrs for #KXL, time for POTUS to say ‘yes,’” said a 11:14 a.m. tweet from the office of House Speaker Rep. John Boehner. Americans have already waited >4yrs for #KXL, time for POTUS to say “yes” #4jobs j.mp/WCTYV3 via @housecommerce — Speaker John Boehner (@SpeakerBoehner) February 1, 2013

On this weekend’s broadcast of “The McLaughlin Group,” conservative columnist and author of “Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?” Pat Buchanan said the bipartisan Senate immigration plan drafted by the so-called “gang of eight” will fail, damaging Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s chances of winning the White House. “The path to citizenship in my judgment is going to fail,” Buchanan said. “It will certainly be stopped in the House, and I think Marco Rubio, who has gotten himself out front on it, will be badly damaged, because I think there’s going to be a rising populist...

Under a new wave of criticism related to his overseas sexcapades, Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) rose to his own defense insisting that “everything I”m alleged to have done has been within my rights under the law.” The claim that he has illegally and immorally consorted with underage prostitutes in the Dominican Republic is “without merit,” Menendez said. “There is a saying—when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Well, in the Dominican Republic, prostitution is not illegal. I was within my rights to engage in a transaction that is perfectly legal under that country’s law. That I should be hounded...

On February 3rd, 1913, one of the two most historic events in US history took place: the ratification of the 16th amendment, which established Congress' right to impose a Federal income tax on Americans, and overturned Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution which explicitly prohibited a general income tax. The amendment was brief and to the point, and read as follows: "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." And with that, the US Federal Income...

I'm sure we've all seen by now the "photo op" of President Obama shooting skeet. If he's shooting skeet then I'm Daffy Duck. Now, what's wrong with the president's picture? First the weapon is nearly level to the ground. Can't be skeet shooting, nor likely trap either. Second, it is evident that the President has never shot a shotgun before as his stance is leaning slightly backward. Look at the position of his torso to his legs. Skeet or trap shooters never do this. They lean slightly forward like a boxer in the ring. Third, he doesn't know or was never...

A shocking title for a post, is it not? Because, of course, IÂ’m writing only in terms of the most horribly-possible hyperbole, am I not? Because, after all, following us individually like Big BrotherÂ’s Medical Official is so far out of human ken as to be unbelievable, is it not? It is not. It is here, it is now, and it is beginning in the UK; home Â— oddly enough Â— of the original Big Brother from the mind of George Orwell (true name: Eric Arthur Blair via the novel Nineteen Eighty Four, published in 1949). From the UKÂ’s DailyMailOnline:...

With ammo being difficult to find lately and selling for much higher prices when it is available, I decided to purchase some reloaded ammo (9mm) and also consider reloading my own. I have no experience doing either. So naturally, I want to ask fellow FReepers for some advice about reloaded ammo. What should I look for when examining reloaded ammo before buying and using it? Can you recommend some articles or web sites about buying reloading ammo? Can you recommend a beginner's kit I should purchase for reloading my own ammo?

HMV, the beleaguered British entertainment retailer, laid off 190 employees, in an effort to cut costs and right its balance sheet. The company apparently pulled a large group into human resources and gave them the bad news. While this was going on, one employee, Poppy Rose, who had been an HMV community manager and thus had access to the corporate Twitter account, started live tweeting about the layoffs. Over a period of around 20 minutes, she sent out a series of notes expressing her rising sense of alarm to HMV’s 61,500 followers (that number has since risen to 73,350). Rose...

On the frigid night of FEBRUARY 3, 1943, the overcrowded Allied ship U.S.A.T. Dorchester, carrying 902 servicemen, plowed through the dark waters near Greenland. At 1:00am, a Nazi submarine fired a torpedo into the transport's flank, killing many in the explosion and trapping others below deck. It sank in 27 minutes. The two escort ships, Coast Guard cutters Comanche & Escanaba, were able to rescue only 231 survivors. In the chaos of fire, smoke, oil and ammonia, four chaplains calmed the sailors and distributed lifejackets: Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed; Lt. John P. Washington,...

The battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party has begun. On one side is the Tea Party. On the other side stands Karl Rove and his establishment team, posing as tacticians while quietly undermining conservatism. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the “biggest donors in the Republican Party” have joined forces with Karl Rove and Steven J. Law, president of American Crossroads, to create the Conservative Victory Project. The Times reports that this new group will dedicate itself to “recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who...

In case you haven’t seen enough Super Bowl coverage in anticipation of Sunday’s big game, we thought we’d take a look at one of the bigger spectacles of NFL football: the cheerleaders. While the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens are battling on the gridiron, their cheerleaders will be facing off on the sidelines. Which team’s cheer squad is better looking? Take a look through the gallery above, then make your pick in the poll.

Want to keep helping the Muslim Brotherhood? My CA Jewish (sort of) Senators do. What system of law has resulted in every single country from which we removed inconvenient dictators using American blood, treasure and technology? Inconvenient dictators – all Muslim rulers are dictators. The inconvenient ones had the temerity to trade with Israel and somewhat tolerate Christians and Jews in their countries. Was the result a democratic society with freedom of the press and religion? A model based on the freedoms and cautions expressed in the Declaration of Independence which gives the Constitution meaning (and why people have historically...

OK fellow FR ping list managers, here is a place to gather, to chat and to identify issues that we need help with. Me first, since this is my thread. The pro-life/Catholic ping list is now so large that the system pings twice and three times all too often. Any ideas on fixing this?

Three eateries in Chicago's River North neighborhood highlight robatayaki. Yet one has kicked things up a bit on the robata grill, venturing into the realm of delectable and unusual food for Chicagoans. What Is Robatayaki? What exactly is robatayaki? Robatayaki is Japanese-style barbecue -- seafood, meat, and vegetables are grilled over a hot flame of charcoals, called the robata grill. Folklore chronicles this food preparation back to the 1600s in northern Japan. â€¨â€¨ River North Restaurants Trending With a Robata Grill In Chicago's River North, a trio of Chicago restaurants within a 1-mile radius proffer sushi and foods prepared on...

Raising children is expensive, but most parents likely don't factor in the cost of paying for their children's misdeeds. Teresa Betancourt is the second Lake Forest parent to be hit with a hefty bill in connection with gang-related graffiti. The Sheriff's Department has accused Betancourt's of tagging more than a dozen spots in town with gang-related graffiti. In 2011, city officials passed an ordinance to make it easier to recoup costs associated with graffiti cleanup. In November, a Superior Court judge ordered Betancourt to pay more than $18,200. Her son is accused of tagging on residential and business walls, stop...

Houston— Dallas-area police have arrested a suspect in connection with the fatal shooting Saturday of former Navy SEAL and “American Sniper” author Chris Kyle and a second man at a north Texas shooting range

Former Navy SEAL and "American Sniper" author Chris Kyle was fatally shot along with another man Saturday on a Texas gun range, a sheriff told local newspapers. Erath County Sheriff Tommy Bryant said Kyle, 38, and a second man were found dead at Rough Creek Lodge's shooting range west of Glen Rose, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Stephenville Empire-Tribune. Glen Rose is about 50 miles southwest of Fort Worth.

<p>AFP - A Saudi preacher who raped his five-year-old daughter and tortured her to death has been sentenced to pay “blood money” to the mother after having served a short jail term, activists said on Saturday.</p>
<p>Lamia al-Ghamdi was admitted to hospital on December 25, 2011 with multiple injuries, including a crushed skull, broken ribs and left arm, extensive bruising and burns, the activists said. She died last October 22.</p>

Among comments to my last piece, “Lautenberg gun show bill as bad as expected,” several were from well-meaning gun owners who honestly questioned why S. 843 – ostensibly submitted to close the “gun show loophole” – is really so bad. A typical and knowledgeable comment went like this: “I am a very pro-gun person. I own a couple of rifles and I will never support any [‘assault weapon’ ban]. I don't even support the ‘86 [McClure-Volkmer] automatic ban. But background checks should be required for any and every sale. If that means transferring it at the dealer, then fine. "But...

A conversation with two passengers landed a Florida tow truck driver in jail after his cellphone pocket-dialed 911 and dispatchers listened in. Authorities say 19-year-old Matthew Dollarhide of Orange City was surprised when a Volusia County Sheriff's deputy pulled him over on Tuesday and asked why they had been talking about selling drugs.

Every year, employment drops by almost 3 million during January. While the drop was worse than 2012, it is on par with the drops in 2010 and 2011. Of course, the Census Bureau whips out the old X-12 ARIMA smoothing models (maybe even the new and improved X-13!) and produces this much more palatable chart. Phew! That is much better for the media (and economy cheerleaders like Mark Zandi) to tout. Thanks to the ARIMA smoothing model, employment INCREASED by +157.000! As my students know, I like the raw, unsmoothed numbers. All the smoothed numbers tell you is … over...

Wait, did we say Twitter users have been Photoshopping that picture of President Mom Jeans and his shotgun? Can’t be. As Twitchy reported earlier today, the White House issued the photo with the stern warning that it “may not be manipulated in any way.” Some of these are just captions, though, and the rest aren’t manipulations, but rather a process left over from the Bush era called “enhancement.”

NEW ORLEANS -- San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver created quite the ruckus this week when he intimated that anyone with a homosexual predilection would not be welcome on his team. Now, he's doing everything he can to get past that. According to his publicist, Theodore Palmer, Culliver will be working with "The Trevor Project," an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. "He's so passionate about youth and people being comfortable with who they are and accepted by all," Palmer said in a phone interview with the Associated Press on Saturday. "He's...

In 1998 Obama stated a desire to “ban the sale or transfer of all forms of semi-automatic weapons.” Barack Obama’s desire to ban “all forms” of semi-autos would include a ban on most common rimfire target pistols, including those used in Olympic competition. Barack Obama’s desire to ban “all forms” of semi-autos would ban the Ruger 10/22, Marlin Model 60, and many other rimfire .22 rifles, which form the backbone of American shooting sports, from hunting to target shooting.

Hooray! The economy is adding jobs (supposedly). However, few look at the quality of the jobs, and whether or not they are part-time. Jed Graham has a nice post on Investor's Business Daily that describes what I have been saying for months: Obamacare has accelerated the trend towards part-time jobs. There are more jobs, but fewer hours in them. Please consider Retail Workweek Hits 3-Year Low In ObamaCare Shift by Jed Graham. The fly in the ointment of January's jobs report was the apparent shift to part-time work ahead of a key ObamaCare deadline. Although retail payrolls grew by 32,600,...

Day 2 and the controversy heats up: Did Big Guy play golf or go shootin’ on his birthday? First, some information on background: Despite being surrounded by well-equipped Secret Service agents at all times, BO insists on packin’ his own: Oh yeah; it’s big. It’s black. It’s powerful. It’s Barry’s Black-Barry (BBB), and it’s smokin’ hot. BBB allows him to shoot off important text messages at any time: After handling another crisis, Big Guy returns his piece to its holster: For an experienced shooter like BO, there is no doubt in my mind that he could squeeze in both...

Senseless advice and nothing nice; that’s what little-girls-in-combat policy is made of. The obvious has already been said about placing women in front-line combat positions. Their presence will reduce unit cohesiveness; male soldiers’ natural instinct to protect women will influence battlefield decisions; there will be the problem of sexual impropriety within the ranks and of rape when women are captured; women will have more trouble measuring up to the physical and psychological demands of battle; special accommodations will no doubt be made so that women may tend to feminine concerns; and, as the high pregnancy rate aboard naval vessels has...

With California mandating that 33 percent of electricity be generated from renewables by the end of the decade, there are 227 proposed solar projects in the pipeline statewide.. Coupled with wind and other renewables they would generate enough electricity to meet 100 percent of California's power needs on an average summer day... Developers are flocking to flat farmland near power transmission lines, but agriculture interests, environmental groups and even the state are concerned that there is no official accounting of how much of this important agricultural region's farmland is being taken out of production. Planning department records in four of...

Duke Energy will close two of its oldest coal-fired power plants, Riverbend west of Charlotte and Buck in Rowan County in April, two years ahead of schedule. Both plants date to the 1920s and had been planned for retirement in 2015. They’re among a wave of older, smaller coal plants closing down rather than investing in new pollution controls to meet federal environmental regulations. The plants had been little used in recent years as larger, more efficient plants came online and falling natural gas prices shifted generation to gas. ....

| A previously unidentified man who was caught attempting to enter Germany last month with a check worth about $70 million in his baggage has now been named. On Sunday, the German weekly newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported the well-heeled mystery man was the former head of Iran’s central bank, Tahmasb Mazaheri, according to the Associated Press. On Friday, the German customs agency issued a statement saying that on Jan. 21, its officials at the Duesseldorf International Airport found the check for 300 million Venezuelan bolivars issued by the Bank of Venezuela in the luggage of an unidentified 59-year-old man....

Three newsworthy statements were reported over the past week that present a disturbing pattern for me. President Obama’s ambitions for fundamentally transforming the United States of America are well underway and it appears that resistance, challenges, and obstacles to the program are becoming societally unacceptable. During his usual post-tournament conference, professional golfer Phil Mickelson commented on the personal effects to his affairs from accelerated government spending by the California and U.S. governments; "If you add up all the federal and you look at the disability and the unemployment and the Social Security and the state, my tax rate's 62, 63 percent. ...

A Lexus drives down the eight-lane highway outside Palo Alto, California, in heavy traffic. Except for the rotating cylinder perched on its roof like an oversized tin can and the word "Google" on its doors, it looks like any other car. In reality, though, it's a search engine on wheels. The Lexus steers itself down the highway by itself. The man in the driver's seat -- Dmitri Dolgov, software engineer, never actually touches the wheel. Dolgov explains what the car can do, which turns out to be quite a lot. It can steer, accelerate and brake automatically; it surveys its...

U.S. drivers are now paying more to fill up their gas tanks than they ever have at this time of year. The national average price of retail gasoline posted its biggest overnight increase in 23 months, rising four cents to $3.462 a gallon on Friday, according to AAA. The average price has risen 13 cents in the past week, a 4 percent jump. "This is the highest price record for February 1st," says OPIS analyst Tom Kloza, who predicts the average price could reach $3.50 a gallon this weekend. "Refinery issues and speculation about refinery issues has a lot of...

Utah Governor Gary Herbert Utah Governor's Office Phone: 801-538-1000 Toll Free: 800-705-2464 Open: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Utah Governor Gary Herbert criticized efforts to oppose federal firearms restrictions and declared that Utah will obey federal gun control laws. Utah Governor: "Utah Will Adhere to the Law" and Obey Federal Gun Laws The New American 03 February 2013 As courageous state legislators enlist in the fight to repel the federal government's assault on the Second Amendment, the governor of one western state is telling a liberty-minded state representative to stand down. Governor Gary Herbert of Utah recently called a pro-gun...

When I was in grade school, I remember going to birthday parties at the local bowling alley. Before the games would begin, the workers would install bumpers inside the gutters in order to prevent gutter balls and avoid "failure." When I was growing up, it was common for sports teams to award trophies to all the players so no little kid would have his or her feelings hurt at the end of the season. Today, there are school districts which no longer give out "F'" grades, and hundreds of high schools have removed class ranks so that my generation...

Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman, has predicted China will be the world's most 'sophisticated hacker' in his new book predicting the future of technology. His new book 'The Digital Age' co-written by Jared Cohen, who runs Google Ideas, the search giant’s think tank, believe that China, is 'the most sophisticated and prolific hacker of foreign companies'. They also say that the country is the 'the world's most active and enthusiastic filterer of information', highlighting how China strongly censors information from outside, carefully selecting what its population can access. The Wall Street Journal, who reviewed the book, say that the book...

--IMAGE HERE -- It is becoming increasingly clear that anti-gun advocates, media personalities, and politicians are completely immune to the laws they insist the rest of must abide by, at least in the District of Columbia. While average citizens and veterans who have served our nation with distinction see their lives ruined, prosecutors repeatedly turn a blind eye when the person breaking the law is espousing an anti-gun agenda. It all started with David Gregory. Despite being warned by the Capitol Police that he could not possess a normal-capacity magazine inside the District of Columbia, he did so anyway. Even...

President Barack Obama is coming to Minneapolis on Monday, Feb. 4, to advance his proposals to reduce gun violence, which is a little bit like taking a boat out into the middle of the ocean to discuss the risk of fire in Joshua Tree National Park. Why doesn't he go to Chicago, where there is gun violence? And then, once in Chicago, why wouldn't he discuss that city's problem of gang violence? In fact, so long as he has the itch to take his bully pulpit on the road, Chicago is the natural, ultimate stop. Why, it is ground zero....

There’s been a lot of discussion within some in the media regarding the demographic changes taking place in Europe. But those of us who’ve travelled there have observed it firsthand: namely, the decreased birthrate among Europeans compared to the enormous birthrate increase among Muslim immigrants. Overall, the birthrate across the continent is far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per couple. Italy, Spain, Austria, and Germany have a fertility rate of only 1.4, while Poland and Russia languish at 1.3 and 1.2, respectively. However, as a subgroup, Muslims in Europe are producing from 4 to 6 children per couple....

've been asked more times than I can remember by secular people and the secular press if Christianity is now, truly...finally...a dying religion. The scenario plays out a bit like this. A reporter, after rattling off a steady stream of apocalyptic examples "supported by research," then asks something like: "Given the decline of Christian influence in our society, and around the world, is Christianity on a respirator?" At this moment, I think they expect me --us -- to jump on the blame bandwagon, and moan on about why Christianity is in danger of being relegated to history's dustbin. If you're...

Requiring the citizens of the kingdom to purchase something that doesn’t exist, and then fining them for not doing it sounds more like the behavior of a tinhorn dictator than the actions of a global superpower—but then, maybe the “superpower” status has led the US government to believe that it can “let the wish be father to the thought.” Perhaps Congress, the authors of the Clean Air Act, and, more specifically, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—and even biofuel lobbyists—have attended too many motivational seminars in which they were taught: “If you can dream it, then you can achieve it.” The...

The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate. The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races. “There is a broad concern about having blown...